Actives

He Bo- Time to get Wet and Knock People Up!

Introduction to He Bo

Hey guys and girls, welcome to my guide on He Bo. He Bo has a great damage output and also quite a bit of Crowd Control. He is a magical power caster, so he should go mid lane and also build magical power. Of course, he is also completely viable in any other lane. He is also amzing at farming and has a HUGE teamfight ultimate, being able to reach 1.2k damage if built properly.PROS

+Great Farmer+Great Harassment+Has a huge teamfight presence+Good utility+ Atlas of the Yellow River Provides good team utility, and helps you get to places faster+Abilities are all AoE+Can be built tanky and still have great damage+One of the only mages in the game that has DPS that rivals that of a carry.+He Bro

CONS

-Escapes are alright, one having to blow his ultimate and one is just a speed buff.-Somewhat item reliant-Can't trade aswell as some other Gods.-Small delays on abilities may make you miss them-Very mana hungry early game

LORE
As God of the Yellow River, He-Bo tamed the massive and turbulent waters with humility and sacrifice. Now, the forces of the great river are at his command!

Throughout history, no river has been the source of more nourishment or more destruction than China's Yellow River. Its basin valley was the cradle that birthed Chinese civilization, feeding fields with water and millions of tons of collected sediments, which give the river its yellow hue. The river is also treacherous and prone to flooding, destroying shoreline settlements and drowning thousands.

Long ago, Feng Yi, a mortal man living along the riverside, watched in dismay as a storm stirred the waters and gorged the banks. It would not be long before this mighty river consumed his village. Both humble and wise, Feng Yi tied rocks to his belt before casting himself into the waters. This act of sacrifice did more than appease the angry river, it promoted Feng Yi to Godhood over it. Thus, he became He Bo.

Much time passed, and He Bo grew proud of his great river, so proud that he declared the Yellow River the biggest body of water anywhere. A passerby asked if He Bo had seen the North Sea, but He Bo dismissed the comment, for heavy rains were falling and the river was roaring and full. As time wore on, thought of the North Sea tickled his mind, so he made the journey. There, the Dragon King of the Northern Sea warmly met him. Viewing the endless expanse of water, He Bo was humbled and returned to his River wiser.

For He Bo, there are no greater virtues than wisdom and humility. With the force of the Yellow River at his command, He Bo will remind his enemies what it means to be humble.

So without further ado, let's get on with the build.

PLEASE DO NOTE: This is called a guide for a reason, it is here to just guide you. If you feel like you can go a slightly different and more efficient way that suits you better, then go for it, as it will most likely leave you at the same place this guide intends for you to be at. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO FOLLOW THIS GUIDE LIKE THE BIBLE.

Changelog

Please do note that this is referring to my timezone, Australian Eastern Standard Time.August 31st
-Guide is created!September 2nd
-Editted item build to show 3 of each item
-Added second build. Special thanks to Asmoday for the suggestion!
-Added Timeline
-Added 'Purchasable abilities' section
-Grammatical and spelling checkthrough of whole guideSeptember 3rd
-Started work on God matchups
-Experimenting with Warlock's Sash. Special thanks to Fastball2600 for the feedback.September 5th
-Finished God Matchups chapter.
-FIRST GUIDE THAT HAS REACHED 70%! Small steps, and we'll soon break 90!
-Reached most viewed guide on Smitefire! 1,500 views!!! A pretty momentous day in my eyes.September 10th
-Fixed up skill sequence
-Remade the item builds to add Recovery, Snowball and also my Normal build.
-Complete rework of item chapter.
-Reached 3500 views!September 13th
-Added a few suggestions, Big thanks to AMAZING MONKEY for the suggestions! Specifically Elixirs and Purification Beads.September 18th
-Added a little note to the introduction regarding minor item change suggestions.October 6th
-Added Lore.
-Added tips and tricks for each God in the God Matchups Chapter.
-Added comboes in Abilities chapter.December 22nd- I SURVIVED THE END OF THE WORLD MUAHAHA!
-Finally added Spear of the Magus to starting items section.
-Guide History now renamed Changelog.April 25th
-Added changes from Assault patch. These are:

Abilities

He Bo's skills are great for farming and also having a consistent damage output to a whole team, as his abilities are all AoE (Area of Effect) and have a relatively short cooldown.

Water Cannon
This ability is your 'spamming' skill in teamfights. It deals AoE damage to everyone in a cone in front of you. Also, this ability is one half of what makes you a great farmer. I max this second after Waterspout mainly because of the larger range on Waterspout.Tips and Tricks
-Don't harass early game with this ability, but to instead harass with your Waterspout.
-This ability has a really short delay, talking 0.2 seconds, so be weary of that or else you may miss.
-The cooldown on Water Cannon is very low, so spam it like hell during teamfights.Atlas of the Yellow River
This ability provides great utility and a decent escape. It also makes as a great initiation tool for your team. He Bo summons a river in front of him. When walking on top of Flood waters, your and your allies' movement speed increases. When enemies walk on top of it, they are slowed. This ability is mainly for the utility, so I max this last.Tips and Tricks
-Use this ability to escape. Throw it out in front of you. You will move significantly faster and your 'chaser' will be slowed.
-Use this ability to get back to lane faster.
-Use this ability to start your combo so it will be easier for you to land your abilities and also to chase if the God starts to run. It also helps stack your passive.
-Use this ability to help initiate teamfights, as your allies also get the boost.
-Do note that the speed boost works all ways. You you run perpendicular to the scroll or run against the 'flow', you will still get a speed boost either way.Waterspout
This ability, HOLY ****. I consider this to be his bread and butter, and this is an AMAZING ability. It's the Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee of abilities. It summons a spout of water at taget location, damaging them and knocking them up. It's great damage, makes him an AMAZING farmer, has AMAZING harass, good range, very good crowd control, it's just so useful all around. This ability gives me muscle spasms and makes me **** my pants. I max this ability first because of all the reasons above.Tips and Tricks
-This ability has a small delay, so if the enemy is close to the edge of the ability, it will most likely miss.
-You can use this ability over walls, so you can try to steal buffs or even quickly grab some creeps when you are passing by a lane.Crushing Wave
And now we come to his ultimate, Crushing Wave. He Bo turns into a giant wave and charges forward, greatly damaging all enemies it passes through. This ability is very good, as it can offer a last minute escape aswell as a major teamfight damaging tool. Usually I get about 1.2k damage on this ability when fully built and comboed with his other abilities. I max this at the usual ultimate levels.Tips and Tricks
-This ability charges you forward, so using this ability through a team at the beginning of a teamfight may leave you in a sticky situation.
-This ability travels in a wave, pun intended, and not instant, so it is possible for your target to outrun the ability despite the indicator saying it will hit.
-Use this ability when all the enemies are low, killing them and possibly getting some multi kills.Steady Flow
This is He Bo's passive ability. This ability rewards your for chaining your abilities, increasing your magical power by 10% everytime you cast an ability, stacking 3 times. This passive is very good, but is unnoticed as it isn't like Cupid's passive where it's a 'physical' change.

MAIN COMBOS

Main harrass combo
Atlas of the Yellow into into

Use this combo to harrass after level 5, when you should have sufficient mana to constantly spam your abilities. We open up with Atlas of the Yellow River to get our passive, Steady Flow going. Then, we use Waterspout to knock-up the target and give enough time to get their and finish off the combo with Water Cannon.
Pre-level 5 harrass combo into

We use this combo before level 5 because using the Main Harrass Combo will make you run out of mana pretty fast before level 5. Same idea as the Main Harrass Combo, Waterspout gives enough time for you to go up and Water Cannon the target.
Kill Combo into into into into whenever it's off cooldown.

I sound like a broken record, but Atlas of the Yellow River is used to get your passive going and to help land your abilities, then Waterspout to hold them in place to get you Water Cannon off. Then use Crushing Wave for that last extra burst of damage. If your target somehow survives the combo, than use your Water Cannon whenever it is off cooldown until your target dies.
Teamfight until your team engages with enemy. Then Main Kill Combo when engaged.

Use Waterspout before the teamfight to wittle the enemy team down. Once you engage, use the Main Kill Combo.

Items

He Bo's build is pretty straightforward, building what a magical powered caster usually builds. However, what I usually like to do is substitute some of my damage for tankiness, just so I can go up close and use Water Cannon in temafights.

Starting ItemsShoes of the MagiHealing PotionHealing PotionHealing Potion
This is what I usually start with, and I honestly can't think of any other scenarios where I would want something else. The only other one I can think of is:Plated GreavesHealing PotionHealing PotionHealing Potion
For when you are against an Anubis or any other God that can harass well.

Build 1: Normal Build
This is the typical build I use if the game is just going normally. In this build, I get a Warlock's Sash just for the great stats overall. Farming is a sinch for He Bo, so you do not need to panic about going farm crazy. Also, I recommend Meditation with this build because you will have no mana regen with this build.

Build 2: Recovery Build
Only use this build if you have died before you have gone back for the first time and you have gotten behind on farm and kills.
For this build, I purchase a Vampiric Shroud because of how well worth your gold this item is. The best option when you are losing lane and constantly getting killed is to build tankier. This will allow for safer farming. Generally, if I were losing, a Void Stone into Focused Void Stone will allow me to trade better, where as a Gem of Isolation will give me that extra bulkiness.

THE CORE ITEMSWarlock's Sash
A very good item, providing health, mana and magical power, all things that He Bo loves. Also, this item has a maximum stack of 100, and considering how easily He Bo farms, this number should not be a problem for him. I get this item first because I want to get those stacks up starting as early as I can.

Rod of Tahuti
I think this item is pretty much core on every mage. This item provides a HUGE amount of magical power, and therefore should be purchased every game. However, I don't really recommend getting this straight after Warlock's Sash, as you get more magical power and overall utility from other items.

Gem of Isolation
Pretty biased, but I'd say this is my favourite item in the game, so I generally buy this item whenever I am playing a mage. It gives a good amount of health, mana and magical power, and the passive is definitely very helpful.

THE SITUATIONAL ITEMSHide of Leviathan
I usually get this item just for the extra tankiness. Your overall damage will go down slightly with this item, but this will make sure you will not get focussed and die instantly in teamfights.

Magi's Blessing
I only get this item if an opposing AP caster has managed to get some kills elsewhere and therefore kill you nearly instantly. Note that if the opposing AP is 'just fed' as opposed to extremely fed and uncontrollable, then get a Void Stone to deal with him instead.

Void Stone/ Focused Void Stone
I usually always get this item alongside with Hide of Leviathan. If the whole enemy team is building Magic Resist to counter you or if you feel the enemy AP Caster is doing a bit too much damage to you, I highly recommend you get this. I generally find myself building the Focused Void Stone more often because of the greater penetration it provides for yourself.

Obsidian Shard
Pretty straight forward. Enemy is building Magic Resist and you feel the enemy AP caster isn't a threat whatsoever, this is your item.

Wall of Absolution
My go-to item if there is a fed physical assassin/bruiser on their team. Provides quite a bit of physical protection, a nice chunk of magical power and a little bit of mana regen which I generally don't notice too much. I always find myself building this item if there is a Loki on the enemy team.

Polynomicon
A great item... which I don't find myself building too much. It provides a nice chunk of magical power and some mana. Oh, and magical lifesteal, but no one cares about magical lifesteal. Of course, the main selling point if this item is the excellent passive, but since I find myself missing my basic attacks, I don't get this item. However, combined with the low cooldown of Water Cannon, this item can be deadly on He Bo... if you can aim.

Bancroft's Talon
Ok, I know I call this situational, but I always find myself building this. I mean, it provides a huge amount of magical power, and a passive which I also find amazingly good, encouraging riskier play and more dueling. Oh, and magical lifesteal, but, you know... it's magical lifesteal...

Ethereal Staff
I'll come clean, I don't think I have ever built this item before. But simply looking at it's stats, and my build which generally goes for a tankier route, I can definitely see this go well on He Bo. It provides some magical power, which will be more if you build tanky, it has a pretty big amount of health and some mana. Overall, I can't see how building this item could go wrong.

Potion of Magical MightElixir of PowerElixir of Defense
First of all, BIG THANK YOU to Amazing Monkey for bringing up the point of elixirs! ELixirs are generally items you want to get when you complete your build. Of course, this being a somewhat expensive build, you may not get the chance to finish it. But if you get super fed/super farmed (you should be getting super-farmed either way), you can get these little buddies. Of course, it depends on what you need. If you want a bit more magical damage, then go for an Potion of Magical Might. If you want a LOT, and we are talking a LOT, then go for an Elixir of Power. And of course, if you want that tankiness, then go for an Elixir of Defense. Note that I only recommend getting an Elixir of Power or an Elixir of Defense after your build because they do cost quite a bit of gold. It may be a good idea to get an elixir of magical might sometime during the early game just to get that little extra edge on your opponent.

Purchasable Abilities

For purchasable abilities, there are only two that I highly recommend.

MeditationGet this only if you are an inexperienced player.
Pretty simple. He Bo is incredibly mana hungry early game, that is if you spam your abilities. By grabbing Meditation, this will solve all your mana problems and you won't have to purchase a Book of Thoth, being able to substitute it for more damage or Tankiness. Note that you ONLY want this early game, as by late game mana should not be a problem. Also, when you get more experienced at this game, I recommend you do not grab this and learn to maintain your mana.

Aegis Amulet
This ability is pretty useful in general. It can actually allow you to initiate fights with your ultimate without instantly dying afterwards. It can also save you from taking huge amounts of damage from other big teamfight ultimates, such as Ymir's. I recommend getting this mid to late game, as that is when most of the teamfights occur.

Purification Beads
This is an all-round good ability. If you get fed or farmed, then the enemy team will most likely focus their damage on you, and if they focus their damage, then that means their CC will come along too. And what do you get if they focuss CC at you? Purification Beads!! Yes, this is a pretty useful ability. This, most of the time, will get you out of a lot of sticky situations. Ymir stuns and ults? No Problem! Cupid initiates on your team? No Problem! Anubis got you in a snare? No Problem! If you're having CC problems, then this is your ability.

Combat Blink
The new kid (ability) on the block. Basically, if you are a hardcore LoL player, this ability will probably seem very familiar. Yes, that's right, because it's essentially just flash (and we all love flash, don't we...). Combat Blink is incredibly versatile. It can do a whole array of things, both offensively and defensively. The sneaky little Loki slipping through the grasp of He Bo]? Simply [[Combat Blink over and whoop his *** for being disrespectful. 5-man gank? Simply Comabt Blink away, and maybe chuck out the middle-man as you are running away to show good sportsmanship. Combat Blink is just amazingly versatile, and pretty much every god and use it.

Farming

Farming is incredibly easy with He Bo. Early game, you want to damage the melee creeps with Water Cannon and the ranged creeps with Waterspout By mid game, you should easily be one-hitting the ranged creeps at the back with your Waterspout. You want to be using Waterspout on the ranged creeps and Water Cannon twice on the melee creeps. By late game, farming should be a sinch, one shot ranged creeps with Waterspout and also greatly damage the melee creeps with Water Cannon.

Teamfights

With He Bo, you usually want to harass the enemy with Waterspout a few times before engaging.

When you decide to engage, the enemy team will most likely have a big disadvantage with their health. You want to throw flood waters right through the enemy team and spam Waterspout and Water Cannon whenever they are off cooldown. When the opposing team is low, swim through them, pun intended again, with your ultimate, Crushing Wave. By then a majority of the enemy team should be dead.

DO NOT TRY TO FOCUS ANY CARRIES IN THE BACK OF THE ENEMY TEAM. You'll get focussed and killed immediately.

God Match-ups

Ra
Hmm, it's a bit hard to explain how this match-up works. Basically, you will rape him in lane, but he's pretty much always going to get your tower first. I find it impossible to out-push him in lane, but I find myself winning every duel against a Ra. I suppose this generally is favourable for He Bo, considering how all he is in He Bo's eye is a nice roast turducken.Tips against Ra
-Don't be braindead. I mean, seriously, you win against him in every duel.
-Stay mobile. His Celestial Beam is pretty much his only source of damage, and it's an incredibly slow moving skillshot.

Kukulkan
This is a a near impossible match-up. He will out-harass you, he will outrange you, he will dodge all your abilities with the extra mobility he gets from slither. Just try to avoid this match-up if possible. Heck, if you can at least beat a decent Kukulkan player, then I bow to you.Tips against Kukulkan
-Play aggressive in this match-up. You will be able to deny him farm if you stand behind his creeps. You'll still be getting gold, while Kukulkan will be pushed to his tower.
-Try to bait Whirlwind, moving out last second before Kukulkan casts it. If you successfully do this repeatedly, he'll run out of mana and most likely go back, then you can further deny him creeps by pushing the lane.

Artemis
A relatively easy match-up, you just have to play smart. Don't go in front of your minions to try to harass her, or else you'll end up taking more damage. Eventually she'll come and try to CS, so that's when you should harass.Tips against Artemis
-STAY BEHIND YOUR CREEPS! If you do this, she'll have no way of harrassing you without burning mana. Her abilities are quite costly, so she will quickly have to go back.
-Be careful when she reaches level 5. This is where most Artemis players will become more aggressive and go for the kill on you. Go back and buy if you haven't done so already.

Kali
I've only seen this happen once, and my god was this a graping. This is an incredibly easy match-up for you. She shouldn't be able to get close to you. Even if she does, you will out damage her, unless if she has her ultimate, but even then you can juke her with your ultimate.Tips against Kali
-Zone her. If she comes even near your creeps, unload the combo Waterspout into Water Cannon. This will out damage her heal.

Anubis
This is a 50-50 match-up. It's just the better player wins. On one hand, he has better harass than you, but on the other hand he's a sitting duck for you to land all your abilities when he's using his abilities.Tips against Anubis
-Be mobile. Never stand still. If you keep on walking from side to side, he'll most like miss his snare. No snare = No harrass.

Sobek
Like Kali, I've only seen this once, and also like Kali, this is easy as hell. He can't get close, and if he does, he has no escape. If he tries to initiate on you, you will deal more damage. Even with his ult you'll out-damage him.Tips against Sobek
-Once again, STAY MOBILE. If he can't land his dash, you will take no damage and he will take a truck load. When he misses his dash, do the main harrass combo.

Hades
This guy is pretty easy. He can harass you, but you will harass him harder. Like Sobek aswell, he will have no escape if he attempts to initiate, so after he blows all his abilities, just start to wail on him.Tips against Hades
-Watch out for level 5. He'll start to be slightly more aggressive. However, if he hasn't harrassed you much pre-level 5, then he won't kill you with his main kill combo.
-If he hasn't built any magic resistance against you, then you'll be able to kill him if he dives in.

Hel
This is an annoying match-up, but it's bareable. He Bo outranges her, so you should be fine to harass, it's just her sustain which is annoying, but your cooldowns are shorter, so eventually she'll get low enough.Tips against Hel
-Harrass her as much as you can. One of your abilities does as much as one of her heals. Too bad you have two major damaging abilities, one on an incredibly low cooldown, and she has only one major heal. Keep harrassing and eventually the damage will add up.

Zeus
It's a rather even match-up in my opinion. His only threatening source of damage comes when he can land 3 skillshots on you, you if you can dodge well enough, you'll be fine. Also, when you see clouds above you, run the f*ck away.Tips against Zeus
-Dodge his basic attacks. No charges=No damage
-As soon as he ults, just try to get out of there as fast as you can. I really recommend Combat Blink or Aegis Amulet for this match-up. If you are caught in his ultimate, then you can simply ult out of his ultimate and onto him. You should win the duel after that.

Poseidon
This is a fairly even match-up. He does out-damage you if you do decide to trade however. His sustain is low, so constant waterspouts should bring him low enough. Also, he has relatively long cooldowns, so constant harassing will win you this match-up.Tips against Poseidon
-Dodge. Best way to put it. His abilities are either slow-moving or damage over-time, so they shouldn't be too hard to dodge. If you suck at dodging, then start with reinforced boots.
-His Tidal Surge generally hits for about four-fifths of He Bo's health, so be weary of that.
-Every Poseidon I have faced immediately goes for the kill as soon as he hits 5. Try to force him out before then to get a level on him and make him reconsider about trying to kill you.

Neith
Like every physical power carry, you will harass better than them but will not duel better than them. She has a heal, but the amount is very small, easy to dodge and Neith players generally don't max it first, so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle. However, she does have a penetrating skillshot, so she may be able to get some harass even if you stay behind creeps.Tips against Neith
-Always recall out of sight and not near enemy minions. She WILL pick you off with her ultimate if you recall in the open.
-Although less effective against Neith than most physical power carries, stay behind your creeps. Her main damage is from basic attacks, so get minions to block them.
-Bait the Backflip with Water Cannon before you fully dedicate into the kill. Waterspout should have enough range to reach her after she backflips.

Freya
The key to winning this match-up is positioning. At level 5, she will try to kill you if you are at half health, because believe me, her ultimate HURTS.Tips against Freya
- Valkyrie's Discretion will turn the tides of any duel. Just be wary of it, as you don't have any way to get away if you over-dedicate.
-The position you want to be in is behind your minions but to the right. This way, Freya can't hurt you. If you stay behind your minions, you'll still get hurt from the AoE of Pulse.
-Every time she uses Pulse, you will have 6 seconds of free harass or denying farm. She can't harass back as she will not have any ranged damage output except her ulti (which she probably won't waste just to harass).

Conclusion

Thank you guys and girls very much for reading through my very first guide on one of these guide posting websites. If you want to add me anywhere on these MOBA games, feel free to, username being the same, HiFromBuddha. So anyway, thank you guys so much for reading through my guide, and I may post some more guides in the future.

Also, please leave any constructive criticism or remarks in the comment section. As this is my first guide, your feedback will improve the quality of possible future guides by a lot.

With meditation mana is no longer a problem unless you are over spamming skills and being hyper aggressive. I would suggest taking out the book and replacing it with Doom Orb. Level 3 orb is very powerful on a caster that can eat a creep wave quickly.

With meditation mana is no longer a problem unless you are over spamming skills and being hyper aggressive. I would suggest taking out the book and replacing it with Doom Orb. Level 3 orb is very powerful on a caster that can eat a creep wave quickly.

Other than that I have to say the guide is great.

Hey there and thank you for your feedback. I'll add the changes that you suggest as soon as I can. For some reason the edit button does not work for me. Expect a few more chapters in the upcoming days, including a guide timeline. Also, reading through my guide once more, I've made a few typoes. I'll go through a double check through of my guide tomorrow, of course, if the edit button works >.>. Also, I'll add thrre of each item to the item build just to signify when to buy 1st level, 2nd level etc.

HeBo's the next champ i plan to get thanks for being so detailed, looks like i might have a fighting chance to not feed first few games with help of your guide XD. Thanks +1

PS. midwest seems like he Max "e" for the better farm and harasss and CC (would also think spamming max rank q would leave you manaless quickly even with book and meditate, but that's my opinion), at least that's what he says IN THE GUIDE :3 try actually reading it before commenting, think this is the second time I have seen you today just looking at top frame of someones guide and then commenting

just quick question why max E over Q. Dat Q cooldown is awesome. if someone is over committed in ur lane or another, you can easly hit them like, 4 times before they get to safety.

Like someone said above, maxing q first may leave you manaless really quickly. Even if you do manage to hit someone 4 times with it, considering you can get close enough in the first place, then you will be manaless to continue. I max this after Waterspout because Waterspout is just safer harass. Also, Waterspout does more damage than watercannon. I just reckon lower cd and risky harass isn't a trade for good cc, easy and safe harass and that little bit of damage. However, if you feel like you would rather max Water Cannon over Waterspout, then go ahead. These are called guides for a reason. They just guide you, you don't need to follow my build like it's the Bible. How I max my abilities, q will be fully maxed by mid game, after you get all your mana regen.

Nice work on the guide. It's probably the most detailed guide I've seen on SmiteFire yet! Fine builds as well. I personally prefer Meditation before I get Rod of Tahuti, but that's simply because I am a mana *****.

I think all you need now is a bit of pictures and color to spice it up! Oh! And I think you should mention elixirs for after completing your build. Some boost your Magic Power a ridiculous amount and can definitely be a game finisher. (I like to save them for the Minotaur =3)

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